23: Understanding Spiritual Abuse, Part 2 with Tamara Powell, LMHC

Today my guest is Tamara Powell, Tamara is a psychotherapist, and life coach who practices in Pensacola, FL. Tamara’s practice focuses on those struggling with issues related to sexuality and spirituality, including abuse and trauma. Tamara first made her appearance on the podcast in episode 10. From that episode, there was a lot of feedback to get her back on the podcast to discuss further what spiritual abuse could really look like, how a person could become vulnerable to it and the long-term effects of experiencing spiritual abuse. To listen to Tamara’s first interview on spiritual abuse, click here.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How spiritual abuse is like any other type of abuse
• Why spiritual abuse can damage a person’s world view
• The way it can make you question yourself
• What spiritual abuse looks and feels like
• How it is not just connected to mainstream organized religions
• People in authority upholding their world view onto others
• The fear of being excluded from social groups
• Victim blaming, internalized shame and learned helplessness
• How spiritual abuse can take place anywhere, e.g. – yoga studio, Buddhist practice, organized religions
• Like domestic violence, spiritual abuse can take hold and isolate a person
• The factors that make people vulnerable to spiritual abuse
• How introverts and extroverts are both drawn for social support
• Why fundamentalism impairs a person physiologically
• How intense fears develop ideas outside of the group norm
• The meaning behind self-actualization
• Short and long term effects of spiritual abuse
• Living up to standards that other people set
• How it’s important to get still and quiet when dealing with spiritual abuse